Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange has written an excellent treatise on the four last things. The book is broken up into 5 sections- the present life, death & judgement, hell, heaven, and purgatory. The first section deals with man. What is out final cause or our raison d'etre? Of course, it is to be united with God for all eternity. How does this life prepare us for our final ends? We grow in charity while meriting in this life. As Garrigou-Lagrange is famous for, he discusses how we are called to become holy and totally purified in this life, bypassing purgatory and going straight to heaven. The second section of the book has to do with death and judgement. There are no second chances and where we end up is permanent. Fr G-L gives reasons for why this is the case and how it works practically. Wouldn't we realize that we had made the wrong decision by going to hell, and hence change our minds and decide to love God? No, for we do not undergo change after death. We cannot learn anything new and hence, nothing can "come to light" that would convince us to want to turn back towards God. We may be sorry that we are suffering, but we will not feel remorse or true sorrow for sin.
Then there is the section on hell. Discussions of hell are always difficult to read, and this is no exception. Fr G-L discusses the pain of loss and the pain of sense. We will feel a deep burning pain at knowing that we have not fulfilled our ends as human beings, that we have been reduced to a mere shadow of what we were meant to be. This is a pain far worse than the pain of sense, even though the pain of sense is beyond anything that anyone has ever experienced in this life. Terrifying. Why screw around with sin? Father G-L also discusses whether or not there are literal flames in hell. The opinion of many theologians seems to be "yes." Again, terrifying.
The section on Purgatory was also quite scary. It is less well known how deeply painful purgatory is as well. The primary pain from purgatory comes from the fact that we know we will see God, and we desire to see him so much. As Fr G-L explains, though in one sense teh pains of purgatory are comparable to the pains of hell, there is also a certain sweetness to the pains of purgatory because you know that through these pains you are becoming more holy and close to God. Fr G-L is careful to note, however, that one cannot merit in purgatory, which is why we need to be perfected in this life. If I am purged from all my attachments to sin in this life, I will merit for myself and others. However, if I am purged in purgatory, those pains that I suffer shall not be meritorious. This illustrates just how important it is to be perfected in this life.
The final section on heaven was very exciting. Fr G-L discusses that which brings us our eternal bliss primarily; namely, God. But secondarily, we will experience immense joy and intimacy with each other, especially those that we knew here on earth. That was something that I was very excited to hear because while I realize God alone is our final ends, I always hoped that there would still be some sort of "interaction" with those that I loved on earth as well as the blessed I have never met. We will also be aware of the doings here on earth of loved ones and be involved in their journey. Finally, Fr G-L discusses the number of the elect. What I like so much about his style is that even though he discusses that the majority of theologians historically have said that the number of the reprobate probably are greater than the number of the elect, he is not dogmatic about it in saying a that we must believe this. He also discusses the popular opinion that the number of the elect IN the Catholic Church is probably GREATER than the number of reprobate in the Catholic Church. That was a very cool thing to hear, and I wish we'd hear that more. He also discusses the possibility of those outside the Church being saved (of course, they would be in invincible ignorance).
The book ends with an epilogue. It begins with a great lament concerning those who have traded the ways of God for their own intellect (as Mark Shea would say, worshiping the intellect). Fr G-L introduces the 3 personality types based on our 3 duties to God- that is, to know, love, and serve him. These correspond to those who whose primary mode of spirituality is through the intellect, the will, and daily ritual, respectively. He gives examples of saints in history who can be classified in each one of the spiritual types. He discusses the positive aspects of each of these spiritual types as well as the common traps that each of them are more prone to falling into. Of course, the goal is to have a balance between all 3.
Everything by Fr G-L is the greatest thing ever. If you are interested in a book on teh last things, there is no reason to read anyone else. He is by far the most trustworthy theologian of the 20th century.
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Top reviews from other countries
- ZycranReviewed in Canada on 23 November 2013
Important treatise on everlasting life
- HeyaEsEiaReviewed in the United States on 9 April 2018
Life-changing book! Amazing!
- LeonReviewed in the United States on 22 June 2014
Awesome spiritual reading for spiritual growth and purfication.
